Commercial aircraft typically incorporates a duct system for supplying cooling air to onboard electronic equipment. The cooling air is drawn from a variety of sources depending on aircraft operating conditions at any given time. Contained in the air are various unwanted materials including dust, dirt, sand, insects, hairs and lint. Usually, conventional barrier-type air filters are placed in system ducts in order to prevent these materials from being blown into the equipment. After a short period of time these filters become clogged with debris build-up which reduces the amount of cooling airflow. Lint, which is generated predominately from aircraft carpets and upholstery fabric, is especially a problem in this regard.
In view of the above, it is therefore necessary to clean clogged filters periodically so that potential electrical overheating problems are reduced. In the past, this has typically involved removing instrumentation panels, disconnecting cooling ducts, vacuuming the filters, and reconnecting everything which was disassembled. As will become apparent below, this maintenance procedure and its associated cost is eliminated by the present invention.